Everyone complaining about 'yet another distribution', and saying 'why this over Ubuntu / Fedora/... doesn't seem to understand (or are conveniently ignoring) a couple of points:
Ubuntu etc. cannot legally play a DVD
cannot legally play an mp3
and countless other examples
... at least in the US. I haven't even looked into the legalities in the UK, where I am, as I frankly don't care for home use, but this stuff really stops people using Linux in a lot of situations.
I think it will be interesting to see how they integrate the proprietary stuff, (and how it's paid for, free as in beer is a big attraction of OSS, whatever the principles at stake).
Yep - pretty much agreed. The problem isn't neccessarily in the ideas behind the system, but in how they're applied.
And out of interest - anyone any idea how my response to the trolling AC became 'flamebait'?:)
I see what you're saying, but I'm still not sure I agree. I'd say the problem (as in most debates on dodgy patents) is that there isn't a rigorous enough prior art check being performed. I'd say it's a fair bet that 'multiple customer queues' have been around longer than any concept of patent law - but if not, who's to say it wouldn't have been fair enough to give the very first vendor with the idea some limited protection for a limited period on it, which is what patents are *supposed* to be all about... That would have course have lapsed hundreds of years ago, so Wal-mart wouldn't have a chance to apply for protection on the same thing. In theory.
I never understood why people browse with AC posts hidden until now. Netflix does not have patents on either of the concepts in the GP.
Quote: "OK so what if I go out and patent queueing at a shop checkout to pay for goods, or paying for magazines to be delivered to your home on a monthly basis, or, or........"
Those examples (queueing, subscription payments) wouldn't / shouldn't be patentable, as there is clear prior art. So don't try and use them as some kind of reductio ad absurdum proof that the system is broken. The system may be broken, but that's not my point...
Why do you need - actually need - stronger encryption on a portable games console. Obviously when the browser comes out and you absolutely gotta do your banking from the sofa... I guess...?
Rant, rant, young people today, rubbish, nothing but shouting, rap, etc...
All you just said is "I feel old and close minded, and/or this isn't my prefered genre of music." Guess what, I like my classic rock as much as anyone, and you're more likely to catch me with a Floyd album than the latest 50 pence track, but this is obviously a catchy pop tune (hear it once or twice and I defy you not to be humming it the rest of the day.)
Computers ARE in reality unreliable, unstable, and buggy.
I run solely Ubuntu these days and I can't claim for a moment that I never see any problems since switching from Windows. Example: the (not even offically supported as far as I could tell) upgrade from Hoary to Breezy left me unable to start the regular login app. Sure, I could fix it by searching a few forums and finding some helpful replies, but you can't expect regular users to do that kind of thing! And lets not mention the recent logging root password fiasco...
Software has bugs, and it's by no means only MS to blame. The day we all write everything using 100% formal methods maybe that will change, but I sure don't want to be a coder in that world...
But how many employees will come to their BOFH complaining that they couldn't look at their neighbours halloween photos? On their work machine? In work time? Irritating if you're the employee, but not likely to keep employers awake at night I'd have thought. Lets be honest, 90% of most employees work surfing is probably less than work related, and if you really do have a job that involves looking for pictures online a lot, you're probably a prime candidate for whitelisting from the whole thing.
OTOH,For something like a home machine that you wanted to configure for keeping the kiddies safe, yes, this might not be a great solution yet.
Every time there's anything on this the first comments are along these lines. Fine! You don't want to play games or do any Windows devlopment - other people do! And this lets them. The end.
No one seems to have pointed out the example that leaps to my mind (and you've omitted above)
Beer, pints (by law still I think)
spirits, ml (25/35/50)
Summary of current status as I read it: SchoolTool still isn't really there, but they did manage to get the spinoff 'SchoolBell' out there, and the SchoolTool work is ongoing and being included in the 'Edubuntu' distro.
A monopoly [...] is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a kind of product or service. Monopolies are characterized by a lack of economic competition for the good or service that they provide and a lack of viable substitute goods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly
It doesn't matter how many people need/want my service. If I'm the only supplier, I can charge what I like, abuse position as I see fit (if there were no legal restraints). Whether Apple have a monopoly now with iTunes, have always had one (in terms of the OS etc. supplied with their hardware, as I guess the g.p. implied), and whether or not it was and or is legal are open questions.
Now, if it could be customized so that specific sounds play when problems are detected, that would be cool.
I know you're half joking, but it looks from t-light-on-details-fa like they do almost exactly that - fta : "The very appearance of violins tells you we're getting locked by spam now".
Because in the real world they could just go home and do it from there, or use their smartphone to make the edits, or... etc. Slashdotters are always flaming government for trying to apply legal band aids to technical problems (e.g. your quaint yankee DMCA), but sometimes you have to accept that there aren't technical solutions to social problems.
I personally think Wikipedia does accept that, and that's why it (more or less, with obvious noisily reported exceptions) works. Most people, most of the time, act pretty sensibly, and now and then when someone doesn't, you just have to hope that the rest of the population can outweigh them.
You're thinking along the right lines, but surely 'Lignux' (pronounced Linux) makes more sense. And if that ends up being elided to 'Linux', long term, well...
Either there was a typo in there or you're vastly exaggerating to make it sound like you had more basis for your decision than you did
Lets see:
About 2 years ago, - lets say 2004 followed by 8 years of Smalltalk - 96? I chose erlang after 8 years of Java programming
By my reckoning you were writing Java in at least 88? Wow, you were way ahead of the curve on that one. But then maybe I should be less pedantic / suspicious, and assume you meant Smalltalk then Java.
Slashdot Mirror
I think it will be interesting to see how they integrate the proprietary stuff, (and how it's paid for, free as in beer is a big attraction of OSS, whatever the principles at stake).
WARNING: Wrong 'Intellectual Property' protection invocation
ERROR: RMS namedrop enacted in pro-patenting context
Yep - pretty much agreed. The problem isn't neccessarily in the ideas behind the system, but in how they're applied. And out of interest - anyone any idea how my response to the trolling AC became 'flamebait'? :)
I see what you're saying, but I'm still not sure I agree. I'd say the problem (as in most debates on dodgy patents) is that there isn't a rigorous enough prior art check being performed. I'd say it's a fair bet that 'multiple customer queues' have been around longer than any concept of patent law - but if not, who's to say it wouldn't have been fair enough to give the very first vendor with the idea some limited protection for a limited period on it, which is what patents are *supposed* to be all about... That would have course have lapsed hundreds of years ago, so Wal-mart wouldn't have a chance to apply for protection on the same thing. In theory.
Quote: "OK so what if I go out and patent queueing at a shop checkout to pay for goods, or paying for magazines to be delivered to your home on a monthly basis, or, or........"
That was what I replied to. Retard.Those examples (queueing, subscription payments) wouldn't / shouldn't be patentable, as there is clear prior art. So don't try and use them as some kind of reductio ad absurdum proof that the system is broken. The system may be broken, but that's not my point...
Why do you need - actually need - stronger encryption on a portable games console. Obviously when the browser comes out and you absolutely gotta do your banking from the sofa... I guess...?
All you just said is "I feel old and close minded, and/or this isn't my prefered genre of music." Guess what, I like my classic rock as much as anyone, and you're more likely to catch me with a Floyd album than the latest 50 pence track, but this is obviously a catchy pop tune (hear it once or twice and I defy you not to be humming it the rest of the day.)
Idiot... or did I just get properly trolled?
Get it right - Poor, Stupid and Female!
I run solely Ubuntu these days and I can't claim for a moment that I never see any problems since switching from Windows. Example: the (not even offically supported as far as I could tell) upgrade from Hoary to Breezy left me unable to start the regular login app. Sure, I could fix it by searching a few forums and finding some helpful replies, but you can't expect regular users to do that kind of thing! And lets not mention the recent logging root password fiasco...
Software has bugs, and it's by no means only MS to blame. The day we all write everything using 100% formal methods maybe that will change, but I sure don't want to be a coder in that world...
OTOH,For something like a home machine that you wanted to configure for keeping the kiddies safe, yes, this might not be a great solution yet.
Every time there's anything on this the first comments are along these lines. Fine! You don't want to play games or do any Windows devlopment - other people do! And this lets them. The end.
No one seems to have pointed out the example that leaps to my mind (and you've omitted above)
Beer, pints (by law still I think)
spirits, ml (25/35/50)
Did that closing statement mean anything to anyone?
http://www.schooltool.org/
Summary of current status as I read it: SchoolTool still isn't really there, but they did manage to get the spinoff 'SchoolBell' out there, and the SchoolTool work is ongoing and being included in the 'Edubuntu' distro.
A monopoly [...] is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a kind of product or service. Monopolies are characterized by a lack of economic competition for the good or service that they provide and a lack of viable substitute goods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly
It doesn't matter how many people need/want my service. If I'm the only supplier, I can charge what I like, abuse position as I see fit (if there were no legal restraints). Whether Apple have a monopoly now with iTunes, have always had one (in terms of the OS etc. supplied with their hardware, as I guess the g.p. implied), and whether or not it was and or is legal are open questions.
I know you're half joking, but it looks from t-light-on-details-fa like they do almost exactly that - fta : "The very appearance of violins tells you we're getting locked by spam now".
Just what does a slashdotting sound like?
I personally think Wikipedia does accept that, and that's why it (more or less, with obvious noisily reported exceptions) works. Most people, most of the time, act pretty sensibly, and now and then when someone doesn't, you just have to hope that the rest of the population can outweigh them.
You're thinking along the right lines, but surely 'Lignux' (pronounced Linux) makes more sense. And if that ends up being elided to 'Linux', long term, well...
Pah... that's what they want you to think...
I think they're collectively called 'Americans'... There's a few around here most of the time...
No, don't you see! It explains why the original never got completed - he ran out of red 2x4 pieces with the little holes through for cross axles!
Sorry. No really.
Lets see:
About 2 years ago, - lets say 2004
followed by 8 years of Smalltalk - 96?
I chose erlang after 8 years of Java programming
By my reckoning you were writing Java in at least 88? Wow, you were way ahead of the curve on that one. But then maybe I should be less pedantic / suspicious, and assume you meant Smalltalk then Java.